Crater Lake Blue

On Thursday, we left Burns and traveled west. But did we travel directly west? Of course not! We took a big detour, traveling first southwest to Valley Falls, then back up in a northwesterly direction. We took this big detour because we wanted to see these less traveled back roads of Oregon. We can't get enough of this high desert scenery.

These back roads were very desolate. The towns, such as they were - usually consisting of a small store and maybe two or three houses - were few and far between. In fact, at one point, there was a sign that said "Next gas 118 miles". Good thing we filled up before leaving Burns!

The scenery began as flat, sagebrush covered land as far as the eye could see. 

But soon, some hills came into view, and then escarpments, bluffs, and even lakes - yes, lakes in the desert. 

We saw a sign that we were entering Lake County. We thought it was odd that a county in the desert would be called Lake County. But when we looked at the map, there were a couple of large lakes shown. So we thought we'd have some nice views of lakes along with the hills. However, this being desert, the lakes were mostly dry lake beds, with little to no water. 

As we were driving along, we made the comment that the environment reminded us of the Australian outback. Then we saw this sign, confirming what we were thinking! 

Before leaving the high desert of Oregon, we drove through a nice, wooded National Forest.

When we got to a town on the major highway, we stopped for gas. Well, we haven't seen this in a long time, but it was a full service gas station. Many of the stations in Oregon are full service. It's been a long time since we had someone pump our gas for us. The gas prices in Oregon are pretty high. 

Next we headed towards Crater Lake. When we left Burns, we tried to make a reservation at a campground near Crater Lake. We thought we could leave the camper at the campground while driving around the lake. But due to forest fires in the area, most of the campgrounds were closed, and the few that were open were all booked up. So we had to tow the camper while driving around the lake (which turned out to be okay) and then travel further down the road for a campground. 

While heading toward Crater Lake, we saw an electronic sign that said "Wildfire in 19 miles, use caution". That made me think: how do you use caution when driving through a wildfire? Do you drive fast to get through it quickly? Do you drive slowly so as not to stir up any flames? Just kidding. Obviously, you're supposed to drive slower because of limited visibility due to smoke. 

So - our highlight of the day, maybe of the trip - was Crater Lake. We had been here before years ago, and this has always been one of the most beautiful sights, in our opinion, of anything we've ever seen. Anywhere. Ever. You can't even describe Crater Lake. When you first see it, you're filled with awe. It is known for its deep blue color, unlike any blue you've ever seen before. It is so indescribably blue, the bluest blue possible. In fact, I think it should have it's own color in the Crayola box. They could call it Crater Lake Blue. But then, they really wouldn't be able to duplicate it.

Crater Lake formed when a volcano collapsed, leaving a crater which then filled with water. It is surrounded by the remnants of the volcano, therefore totally enclosed. When you view the lake, you are viewing it from up above, looking down into it. There are no rivers flowing into or out of Crater Lake, and there is no outlet for the water other than evaporation. It is the deepest lake in the US. There is a small island, called Wizard Island, in the lake. Wizard Island is a cinder cone, which basically is a conical hill made of volcanic material. 

There is a rim drive which normally goes completely around the lake. However, due to construction, part of the drive was closed. So we went around the west rim as far as we could, then turned around and went around the east rim as far as we could. From time to time, we pulled off to gaze at the amazing lake, each time being filled with awe at the stunning beauty. I am not trying to be dramatic, but it is just impossible to describe this beautiful sight. I repeat, of all the places we've been, we think Crater Lake is the most beautiful thing we've ever seen. Here are some pictures, which can never do it justice, but I'll post these so you can at least get an idea of the beauty. I apologize for the plethora of pictures, but after all, it is Crater Lake, the most beautiful sight in the world!

In addition to the beautiful lake, there were mountains and peaks to the west that added to the scenery.

After leaving Crater Lake, we continued driving west to our campground in a city called Idleyld Park. As we drove west through the forests of Oregon, we finally came across those wildfires that we had heard about. The drive became very smoky at times, and we could definitely smell the smoke. (We were wondering if we might perhaps see some Smoke Jumpers.) We saw signs of Fire Danger, Fire Equipment entering Highway, Fire Activity Ahead, and Fire Camps. The fire camps were clearings in the forest where many tents were set up (like hundreds of tents) where supposedly the fire fighters were camping while fighting the fires.

And after we finally drove through the smoky area, we had a little bit of nice scenery before arriving at our campground.